Thursday evening I had the opportunity to attend the taping of the U.S. Senate Republican primary debate. The hour-long debate will air on ABC affiliates throughout the state on Sunday, May 9th. As far as I know, this is the only scheduled television debate with all three candidates before the primary election on June 8th.

Held at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, the debate was moderated by Los Angeles ABC anchor Mark Brown. Since readers can watch the debate themselves this weekend, I won’t go into detail about what took place. Although, I live tweeted the entire debate that evening. I will offer a few insights on the general response from the audience (mostly filled with campaign supporters for the respective campaigns), and share some of the feedback I encountered immediately following the debate.

Each of the candidates stuck to their strengths as they squared off. Tom Campbell, ever the professor, provided detailed policy answers to each question. I heard those around murmuring about how knowledgeable he is, and how he always comes across as an expert on technical policy issues.

Chuck DeVore… Read More

OK, having been "cast" by my friend and fellow FR blogger Jim Battin in previous JibJab online movie productions, it’s my turn to return the favor…

So we present to you The Empire Strikes Back starring…

As Han Solo — Supervisor John Benoit… As Princess Leia Organa — Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack… As Lando Calrissian — Gary Jeandron and… in his starring role… As Luke Skywalker — Jim Battin!

(Our apologies to Jim’s Coachella Valley neighbors for being cast in this feature, but if it goes viral, maybe there will be residuals!)

The link to the short movie is under this outstanding screen shot of it’s star…

LINK TO THE MOVIE… Read More

This just in from Assemblyman Joel Anderson… If you are in the San Diego area — you’re help is needed TOMORROW… Note: See this column from Assemblyman Jim Neilsen that also appears on the FlashReport today for more information, as well as information on other events besides the San Diego one detailed below. Assemblyman Anderson Issues Taxpayer Call to Arms! … Read More

I just got off of the phone from a "media" conference call with the Carly Fiorina campaign team — the call was hosted by Fiorina’s top campaign strategist Marty Wilson, and her media strategist Fred Davis — with some insightful tid bits from Judie Soderlund as well.

Marty Wilson opened by saying that the campaign had reached the "finally" phase — in that with a month to go, with a large number of undecided voters, it is finally time for the voters to be able to get introduced to Carly Fiorina through an aggressive voter contact campaign.

Marty said that the campaign would be focused on the "three M’s" – Momentum, Message, Messengers…

Momentum Great debate performance — Carly has the, "policy and intellectual chops to go up against our primary… Read More

Whitman Campaign Senior Advisor Rob Stutzman (pictured) just held a "starring role" in a telephone conference call with "media" (co-starring Whitman Comms Director Tucker Bounds where they talked about a new media buy by the California Democrat Party — which has purchased $800,000 of television time over the next four days.

While as of this moment the CDP has not yet released these ads online, and they have not yet appeared on television, the Whitman campaign has seen the piece (via the stations who have received it) and Stutzman characterized the ad as a, "Goldmach Sachs hit."

Stutzman went on to say that, "This is proof positive that the unions are intent on influencing the Republican Primary. Proof that they fear Meg Whitman as the only real… Read More

Most FR readers probably are not familiar with what is called the "Sinclair Paint" decision — and it would take an entire column to go into all of the details. But suffice it to say that this court ruling smashed a big hole in the taxpayer protections of Proposition 13, saying that unlike general tax increases that require a 2/3rds vote of the legislature, raising taxes for a specific program where there is some (often dubious) nexus between the tax and the program is no longer called raising taxes, it is called a "fee" — and requires only a majority vote.

For example — hypothetically — a tax of $.25 on every plastic bag in a grocery store that is sold, which then goes into "public education" about how plastic bags can damage the environment would be sold as a "fee" requiring a majority vote.

Over the years, this egregious "loophole" has been used raise vast amounts of taxes (disguised as fees) on the people of California.

The campaign to Stop Hidden Taxes today has turned in the signatures necessary to place an initiative on the November ballot that would close the loophole, and… Read More

Yesterday former Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential nominee turned national grassroots conservative phenomenon Sarah Palin endorsed the candidacy of Carly Fiorina for United States Senate.

This endorsement is a big boost to Fiorina’s candidacy amongst conservatives — and is a significant blow to the campaign of Chuck DeVore. Fiorina has been striving hard to make the case to voters that she is a conservative candidate — but there is no doubt that she is not as conservative as one of her opponents, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Of course, Tom Campbell completely occupies the moderate end of the GOP spectrum, based on his record on fiscal and social issues.

One of the key necessities of a DeVore primary victory is to paint Fiorina as more of a moderate, and there is no doubt that a Palin endorsement of Fiorina makes that task significantly more challenging.

**There is more – click the… Read More

Yesterday former Alaska Governor and GOP Vice Presidential nominee turned national grassroots conservative phenomenon Sarah Palin endorsed the candidacy of Carly Fiorina for United States Senate.

This endorsement is a big boost to Fiorina’s candidacy amongst conservatives — and is a significant blow to the campaign of Chuck DeVore. Fiorina has been striving hard to make the case to voters that she is a conservative candidate — but there is no doubt that she is not as conservative as one of her opponents, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Of course, Tom Campbell completely occupies the moderate end of the GOP spectrum, based on his record on fiscal and social issues.

One of the key necessities of a DeVore primary victory is to paint Fiorina as more of a moderate, and there is no doubt that a Palin endorsement of Fiorina makes that task significantly more challenging.

The DeVore campaign did respond to Palin’s endorsement which you can check out… Read More